-Who is Cherie Kerr? 

Cherie is an award-winning indie filmmaker. She was a founding member of the legendary  comedy organization, the L.A. Groundlings whose many performers went on to major shows, most notably “Saturday Night Live.” Kerr went on to found her own comedy organization 33 years ago, The Orange County Crazies, which has received rave reviews for both its sketch work and improvisational comedy shows. Over the past forty years, Kerr has written 450 sketches, 5 original screenplays, one Broadway musical and two of the three films she produced were all improvised (according to a strict storyline/scriptment). Two of her films–“We’ve Got Balls,” a quirky family-firendly bowling cult movie, and “The Show Can’t Go On!” are available on many streaming platforms. The sequel to “The Show Can’t Go On!” “The 3rd Annual Matricher Falls Internationel Film Festival,” is currently seeking distribution. In sum, her films have recieved 19 awards along the film festival circuit. Kerr co-stars in her latter two movies–the first about a failed sketch comedy show’s director’s angst when the show encounters one disaster after another–the second, a sequel, which sees the three main characters making a valiant effort to cobble together surveillance tape from the sketch show and fashion it into an indie feature. Both films are mockumentaries. Kerr also founded and still heads KerrPR, an “all things communication”  publicity firm that has continued to garner accolades for its work and awards.

Kerr has also written 15 books, 11 of which accompany her public speaking and communication skills training company, ExecuProv (for Fortune 100 companies); three of her books are how-to books on comedy. They are sold around the world in17 languages. Kerr also starred in her own one woman show, “Out of her Mind,” where she played several original characters. She also authored “Charlie’s Notes” a memoir about her father’s life as a jazz musician. She hopes to raise funding to adapt the book into a film.  Her film company, Ree-invent Films founded in 2013, has a mission statement: “Provide a satirical look at the world in which we live and to leave audiences with a strong moral messsage long after the laughter subsides.” Kerr is also the mother of Drake Doremus, a filmmaker who won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2011 for “Like Crazy.” Doremus grew up on Kerr’s stage studying and performing improv most of his young life before attending AFI at age 19. He has since gone on to make a number of indie films with actors well known.

-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?   

I loved the work we were doing on stage, but with the advent and ease of making indie films, I wanted to parlay my expertise into the film format. It seemed like a natural progression in my comedy career.

-Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society? 

Absolutely. People are profoundly influenced by visual storytelling and I think with more humor and more reminders that we are all in this together, we might spark a greater interest in peace with our fellow man around the globe. I believe there is nothing more bonding that humor, except love. Humor is universal. And, it’s so healing. When engaged in it, it even changes your brain chemistry, in a most positive way!

-What would you change in the world?  

I would like to find a way to bring harmony to all mankind. No more wars, no more illness, no more strife, just efforts to make the planet the home base for more spirituality. I also would make sure that people had a ample dose of humor in their every day life.

–Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years? 

There will always be films, but I think we will watch most things digitally in time. We’re certainly headed that way. While I love the big screen, I’m not so sure theaters will be in existence in the next 20-30 years. But stories and interesting characters always will be. That will never change.